Vacuum igniter



J. v. RICE, JR

VACUUM IGNITER Original Filed Apr. 1'7, 1914 2 sheets-sheet 1 ATTORN EY J. V. RICE, JR

VACUUM ,IGNITER Mm. 2m, 1923. 11,449,191

Original Filed Apr. 17, 1914 2 sheets-sheet 2 JOHN V. RICE, $3., 0F BOEDEN'TOWN, IlEtV GOIMPANY, OF EbEDEIITGWN, NEW JERSEY,

EY, ASSZGNOB- TO RICE ENGINE .c CORPOBATIQN OF NEVJ JERSEY.

JEBS

VACUUM: IGNITEB.

Refiling of application Serial No. 832,510, filed April 17, 183.4.

' Serial Itl'o. 418,301.

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that 1, Jon)? V. Bron, Six, a citizen of the United States, and resident Bordentown, in the county of Burlington and State 01 New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vacuum lgniters, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to an igniting device for internal combustion engines, the de vice being of the general class known as tube igniters which cause combustion of the explosion mixture by means or a hot tube instead of a spark. One of the objects for which I am striving in the present invention is to produce a tube which can be kept heat ed at all times to a high temperature so that it will be ready to perform whatever duty is required of it, and hence will not become cold and ineffective when as with a light load the explosions are not as frequent as they are when the engine is operating more rapidly with a heavier load. Another object is to construct an igniter of the kind mentioned in an economical and eiiicient way so that the best results of every kind will be achieved in practice. With these and other various objects in View it will appear throughout the description and claims that my invention consists essentially in the pro vision of a vacuum or partial vacuum surrounding or contiguous to the igniter tube and the explosion cavity; and also in means for creating such a partial vacuum and in a chamber wherein it is produced; and furthermore the invention may be said to reside in numerous details and peculiarities in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts, substantially as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating my invention:

Figure l is a vertical section of an igniting device constructed in accordance with my present invention and shown aspractically applied for use with an internal coinbustion engine cylinder.

Figure 2 is a similar sectionalview or": a modification oi the invention.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the different figures or the drawing.

This application filed October 20, 1920.

1 denotes the cylinder of an engine; 2 its water jacket; 3 a piston in the cylinder. At the end of the cylinder is a head 6 having an explosion cavity (5 therein. \Vater is introduced into the water jacket through the pipe 11. The fuel, consisting of any suitable heavy oil, is supplied through the pipe having the injector nozzle which sprays in the oil, it bein immediately converted into gas inthe chamber 6 and then exploded by the igniting'device, the operation being, far as the explosion is concerned, similar to that of a Diesel engine. it will be understood, oi course, that when the piston reaches the top or the compression stroke, the small injector 5 opens and a charge of liquid fuel and compressed air is blown into the already red hot cylinder and that after the valve closes, the hot gases expand during a portion of the travel or" the piston, after which the exhaust valve opens and relieves the pressure, but I do not consider it neces sary to illustrate in detail the operation oi any oi the well lrnown principles of an engine of this type, since my invention is concerned with the igniter device.

Communicating with the cylinder head 6 through the passage 12, is a chamber 18 con" ining the metallic tube igniter l i. Tube 1% is supported in a casing having an outer wall '7 and an inner wall 10, the latter being preferably corrugated and there being between the two walls '7 and 10 a space 8 in which a greater or less vacuum is created by a vacuum pump which sucks air through the pipe 9 connected with the space 8. Thus I surround the tube 1- by a vacuum or partial vacuum for the purpose of enabling the heat to be kept in the igniter tube so that it will be ready for efiicient service at all times. Tube 14: is heated from without by means of a torch, or in any other suitable way, and it desired its outer open end may be covered, although this is not necessary. The corru- 'ated character of the inner wall 10 ot the temperature has been reached.

comparatively so when the load is quite light, the result will be that it might fail to operate when a heavy load is thrown on. 'lhe use of the vacuum, however, causes the igniter to retain the heat and enables it to be ready for the best work under all conditions. The degree of vacuum in the chamber 8 will vary and, of course, can be regulated by the operation of the vacuum pump so as to be kept at any predetermined degree.

It may be that in the operation ol' a vacuum igniter of this kind which keeps hot in accordance with the thermos principle, a too high temperature may be reached and kept for a time, one that would be dangerous or disastrous to the mechanism, and, hence, it is desirable to provide a means for preventing this. This 1 do by furnishing a device which will automatically operate to partially destroy the vacuum by letting air into the chamber 8 at a time that this excessive iluch a device l designate a thermostat. lt is shown in section in Figure l on the side wall "(of the tube casing. it consists of a. horizontal casing 15 screwed into the outer wall 7 oi the tube chamber'and containing a suitable valve 16 having a stem 17 which passes through the casing 15 in a loose way and has its inner end in contact with the flexible corrugated wall 10. spring 18 is interposed between the valve 16 and the opposite end of the casing 15, which consists of a perforated plug 19 screwed into the'end of the casing 15. lt will be obvious, therefore, that as the pressure in the chamber increases in consequence of the operation of the engine and the high degree of tempera ture of the combustion mixture and of the tube igniter lei, said pressure against the corrugated wall l0 will more the stem 1? of the valve 16 suliiciently to unseat said valve from its seat 20 and allow air to flow in through the perforated plug 19, past the valve 16, and through the 15 into the vacuum space 8, and thus partially destroy the vacuum. A slight cooling, however, will restore the position of the parts, and the stem 18 will close the val e 16 again against its seatQO. The use of a thermostat of this kind is a valuable adjunct to an ignitingdevice operating in na ctio-n with a vacuum for keeping it at h k 1 temperature.

Referring; to Figure 2. it will be seen that l'have shown a codification in the iz'ient of the parts. though the principle is the same and the gene al,construction on the same lines. ln this view l have shown part ol the cylinder 1. water jacket and piston. 3. At the end of the cylinder 1. the head 21 entered by the fuel supplying device 22 having injector nozzle or needle valve 3. At the center ot the head 2i is a sphericah globular or ball-shaped compartment 24, being preferably ribbedas at 25.

Fiaid spherical chamber 2a is surrounded almost en irely, except at the top and bottom where it su orted, by a chamber 26, which l term a vacuum chamber, because from said chamber the air has been practically excluded by being withdrawn throng; the outlet pipe 27 by a vacuum pump placed at any suitable point and not shown. At the top of the chamber 2%, entran: had the eto through a central pas :28 which communicates vith the tube igniter located central y within a removable cover ll) which may be dispensed with if desired, said cover having a door 31 Wed to be opened for the purpose of in tioduci torch or other scans for primarily heating; the tube 29' prior to the beginning or the cycle of operations oi? the gas engine. I ln the operation of the modification represented in I ure 2, it will be evident that the fuel in oduced through the injector 23 and flashed into gas in the chamber Qiwill be ignited as soon as it comes into contact with the tube 29, which has previously been heated red hot. In order to guard against any undue in the temnerature oi": the engine, find it desirable to use with this modification of the c ine the samethermostat construction in the case of the mech anism illustrated in Figure l, thestem 17 in this case bearing against the spherical wall of the chamber 24.. The operation of the device in Figure 2 is, however, quite similar in all respects to that of the construction Hill I shown in Figure l. except in so far as there are slight dillerences owing to changes in the structure and arrangement of the different parts.

It will be obvious. that my invention reattained. I Such being the broad idea, it is oliivious that it may be embodied in mechani- "al orms v viugwidely in their contour and the con nation of the various details. a-i'ul therefore claim the libertyot so applyii Y the vacuum principle toanv mechanical 'ucture as will enable the igniter to be successfully employed in any kind of an internal Ct bustion en ine by keeping the temperatures? the tube at such degree may be found desirable and useful. and I, therefore, reserve the liberty of modifying; the structure and employing its forms within very wide limits for the carrying out of the ill) essential underlying principles of the invention. Although I have herein referred to the igniter as a tube igniter, yet it is ob vious that it may partake of other forms and may be a bulb if desired, or in its tubular form it may be described as a bulb; furthermore a collar may be employed that may act as a resisting power intermediate between the corrugated wall and the thermostat valve, for it will be observed that in some cases the thermostat valve stem may lie directly against the corrugated wall, and in other cases may be differently arranged and supported, the principle of action being in both cases practically the same as the pyrometer acts when the heat is too great.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an igniter for internal combustion engines, the combination with a tube igniting device, of means for keeping it at a hi h temperature after it is once heated, said means comprising means for applying a vacuum to said igniting device to prevent the radiation 0:5 the heat, and a thermostat device for preventing any undue rise of temperature in the igniter tube.

2. In an igniter for internal combustion engines, the combination of a tube device, a chamber adjacent thereto, the inner wall of said chamber being corrugated, a space contiguous to the corrugated Wall, from which space the air has been substantially Withdrawn to create a partial vacuum, all substantially as described.

3. The combination with a tube igniter, of a chamber wherein the inflammable mixture is compressed for ignition, the inner Wall of said chamber being corrugated, and means for creating a partial vacuum on the opposite side oi said wall so as to prevent heat radiation.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

JOHN V. RICE, JR. 

